Do You Know Which Pollens You're Allergic To?

Knowing which plants trigger your allergic asthma will help you defend yourself.

Video featuring Dr. Sanjay Gupta

It’s
not enough to know you’re allergic to pollen, you need to know what kind. There
are as many different kinds of pollens as there are plants, and each allergy
sufferer is unique.

There
are two things to look at when trying to figure out what triggers your allergic
asthma: season and geography.

In
the fall, pollen comes mostly from weeds like ragweed. In the spring, the trees
begin producing pollen. Birch, oak, elm, and hickory are big culprits, but you
may be allergic to one kind of tree and not another.

In
the summer, grasses start producing pollen. If you are allergic to one grass
pollen, chances are you’re allergic to all of them, but you can be allergic to
tree pollen and not grass pollen, or vice versa.

Pine
produces one of the biggest pollen grains. Since people can see it more easily
(covering your windshield, for example) many people assume it must be one of
the worst allergens. But in fact, the heaviness of pine pollen means it falls
to the ground more quickly. It doesn’t linger in the air, so it’s less likely
to produce an allergic reaction.

As
for geography, if you look at the annual list of worst allergy/asthma cities,
you’ll see Southern spots tend to crowd the top of the list. That’s because
plants like warmer, wetter climates.

The
coasts have sea breezes, which clear the air of pollen, and the mountains have
fewer plants, so these areas tend to have fewer allergy sufferers.

But
a terrible city for one sufferer may be fine for another. It all depends on
what kind of pollen triggers your asthma.

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